Carriers that grip the upper portions of articles to enable the articles to be lifted and carried are known, particularly in connection with the packaging of beverage cans. Paperboard carriers that have been developed for this purpose have been of two basic designs. In one design a panel is provided with apertures corresponding to the tops of the cans, with foldably connected tabs surrounding the apertures. The top portions of the cans extend through the apertures and the edges of the tabs engage the underside of the can chimes to support the cans. This produces an inherently weak carrier due to the fact that much of the panel is removed in forming the apertures. In addition, there is very little surface area capable of receiving printing or other graphics, and the provision of a handle for lifting the carrier further complicates the design and makes the carrier more expensive. In the second basic design, arcuate slots are provided in a bottom panel for receiving opposite portions of the can chimes, with the adjacent bottom panel edges resulting from the slot formation engaging the underside of the can chime portions. This is typically employed in packages comprised of two adjacent rows of cans, so that the elongated area of the bottom panel between the interior slots folds into a wedge-shaped reinforcing rib extending between the sloped upper portions of the cans. Short side panels connect the bottom panel to top panel flaps, which are glued to the bottom panel, and aligned finger openings in the top panel and in the reinforcing wedge enable the package to be lifted and carried. Although such a carrier provides substantially unbroken areas in the top panel for receiving printed indicia, it falls short of providing the desired level of strength and is too expensive to produce.
It would be desirable to provide a carrier which retains the benefits of known paperboard clip-type carriers, but in addition provides increased strength and economy of manufacture,